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Trinity celebrates 95 years with National Garden Scheme

Trinity’s Fellows’ Garden, which opens to the public for the first time since the pandemic on Sunday 26 March, is celebrating 95 years with the National Garden Scheme.

A tranquil spot in the Fellows’ Garden. Photo: Graham CopeKoga

This week the College received a plaque commemorating the long-term relationship. Trinity was in the first group of Cambridge Colleges to open its Fellows’ Gardens to the public in 1928, a year after the National Garden Scheme was founded by the Queen’s Nursing Institute to raise funds for district nursing.

Since then, apart from during the Second World War and when major works or the Coronavirus pandemic prevented it, Trinity’s Fellows’ Garden and Burrell’s Field has opened most years. National Garden Scheme Publicity Officer Penny Miles said:

We’re really celebrating the length of the relationship – it’s among the longest we’ve been lucky enough to have with any of our gardens in Cambridgeshire. We’re very grateful for the support this has enabled us to provide to nursing and caring causes over so many years.

Chair of Trinity’s Gardens Committee and Zoology Professor Paul Brakefield paid tribute to the dedication and expertise of the College’s gardeners.

We are all very proud of the plants, wildlife and historic landscape that the Gardens team nurtures across the College estate, come rain, wind, shine or snow.

We look forward to welcoming visitors for the Open Day, which is always popular in the College calendar and we think will be particularly so after the pandemic.

Trinity’s Head Gardener Tom Hooijenga receives the commemorative plaque from Jenny Marks, of the National Garden Scheme.

Trinity’s eight-acre Fellows’ Garden comprises specimen trees, mixed borders, drifts of spring bulbs, and informal lawns.

With a brook winding through Burrell’s Field, formal planting around student accommodation and delightful small gardens with old fruit trees, there is plenty to explore.

Members of the Gardens Department (pictured above) will be on hand to answer your gardening questions. Home-made cakes for various diets, tea, coffee and squash will be available to purchase as well as plants.

Deputy Head Gardener Karen Wells said:

The Gardens team delights in showcasing the Fellows’ Garden to visitors and has put a lot of work in to make the visit as memorable as possible, notwithstanding the variable weather this spring.

Our gardeners are also great bakers and there will be some delicious cakes available – including Victoria sponge, honey cake (from our beekeeper), fruit cake, Italian crostata and vegan banana bread. All monies will go the National Garden Scheme’s designated charities so you can treat yourself for a good cause!

Photo: Graham CopeKoga

Trinity’s Fellows’ Gardens is one of 100 gardens in Cambridgeshire taking part in the National Garden Scheme, which last year contributed £78,000 to the total of over £3 million raised by the 3,700 private gardens open nationwide. The Scheme’s charities include Marie Curie, Macmillan Cancer Support, Hospice UK, and organisations supporting gardens, gardeners and health through gardening.

The Fellows’ Garden and Burell’s Field will be open to the public on Sunday 26 March, 1pm –4pm. Admission is £4 and children under 14 are free. There is wheelchair access, but some gravel paths.

You can book in advance or pay (by cash or card) on the day. The Fellows’ Garden is on Queens’ Road, CB3 9AQ. 

 

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